How to foster the use of pesticides with a lower environmental impact in support of the Green Deal ambitions

G.H.P. Arts*, S.T.J. Droge*, H.A.A. Thouément*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference paperAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Including more low-risk pesticides from biological origin as an alternative to chemical pesticides in agriculture, is considered as an important way forward to reach the Farm
to Fork strategy target of 50 % decrease of the use of more hazardous pesticides by 2030. Lowrisk pesticides as defined by the current European Union (EU) plant protection Commission Regulation EC No 1107/2009 (PPP reg) comprise pesticides from a biological origin, but not all biological pesticides meet a low-risk profile. Although promising from the nature of these products and active ingredients, any (bio)pesticide needs to meet the criteria of the PPP reg, and to be granted a low-risk status they also need to meet the additional low-risk criteria defined by the PPP reg. Risk assessment procedures are designed for the regulation of synthetic products with an expected high risk, and consequently complexifies the approval of products with expected or known lower risk profiles. Important steps forward were reached in the past years, e.g., the acceptance of uniform principles and data requirements facilitating microbial pesticides approval as part of the PPP reg. However, for other low-risk pesticides from biological origin, specific requirements are lacking. Biopesticides are still only slowly obtaining approval, which hinders the replacement of more toxic chemicals, limiting the choices for farmers and encouraging derogations for toxic compounds. This paper summarizes the bottlenecks encountered when performing a risk assessment for authorization of biological
pesticides and low-risk pesticides and lists recommendations on how to foster the use of pesticides with a lower environmental impact.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWorking Group “Biological and Integrated Control of Plant Pathogens”
Subtitle of host publicationPreceedings of the XVI Meeting in Wageningen (The Netherlands), 6-9 June, 2023
EditorsJ. Köhl, G. Elena Jimenez, B. Andreo Jimenez, F. Gorter, M. Bardin
PublisherIOBC-WPRS
Pages101-104
Number of pages4
ISBN (Print)9789290673521
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventXVI Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Biocontrol conference - Working group Biological and integrated control of plant pathogens (2023): Biocontrol needs and challenges in future cropping systems - Wageningen, Netherlands
Duration: 6 Jun 20239 Jun 2023

Publication series

NameIOBC/WPRS Bulletin
Volume165
ISSN (Print)0253-1100

Conference

ConferenceXVI Meeting of the IOBC-WPRS Biocontrol conference - Working group Biological and integrated control of plant pathogens (2023)
Country/TerritoryNetherlands
CityWageningen
Period6/06/239/06/23

Keywords

  • pesticides
  • lower environmental impact
  • Green Deal ambitions

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